Chavez returns home after cancer treatment in Cuba

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez returned home on Friday after 11 days of cancer treatment in Cuba, saying his latest round of radiation therapy was successful.         

"I should say that we have successfully completed the medical treatment," Chavez said at a red carpet welcome on the tarmac of Simon Bolivar International Airport. "Of course, I must rigorously follow the medical advice in these coming days in order to continue recuperating," he added.      

State television broadcast live footage of Chavez greeting and chatting with Vice President Elias Jaua, Defense Minister Henry Rangel Silva and Justice Minister Tareck El Aissami along with other top aides after he stepped off the plane.     

Chavez, 57, traveled to Cuba on April 30 for further radiation therapy.      

The socialist leader began the treatments in late March.     

Chavez had an operation in February that he says removed a second tumor from his pelvic region. The first tumor was taken out in an operation last June. He has kept some details of his illness a secret, including the type of cancer and the precise location of the tumors.      

Chavez is preparing for this fall's presidential election on October 7. The president's treatment has forced him to slow his daily routine and prevented him from actively campaigning as he has in the past.       

Opposition presidential candidate Henrique Capriles, meanwhile, has been traveling across this South American country for weeks to drum up support.     

Chavez vowed to invigorate his campaign.   

APTN